Friends in Need Food Shelf

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411794212
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cottage Grove, MN, USA
Phone
6514580730
Rating
92
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Emergency Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,146,639
Expenses
$998,243
Assets
$2,507,281
Liabilities
$1,511

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KURT MAZUR (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • CHELSEA SWAGGERT (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JILL HUGHES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • CHRIS CALDER (TREASURER)
  • STEVE WEBER (DIRECTOR)
  • OPEN POSITION (BOARD SECRETARY)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Community food shelf

What it reported doing in 2025

Program to provide a community food and support for residents of cottage grove Minnesota and the surrounding area

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 97.9%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $283.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.9%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.51; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.6% of revenue deployed · 97.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $978K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.